


Pancake Day

by olivemartini



Series: Kit's Explorations of the Institutes, With the Help of Ty [2]
Category: Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Comfort, Family, Fluff, Insecurity, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 19:13:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6436882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Pancake Day at the Blackthorns, and Kit doesn't get the whole "family meal" thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pancake Day

"What do you want on your pancakes, Kit?" 

As soon as the question was asked, seven pairs of eyes focused on him with pinpoint accuracy.  He felt like a deer trapped in headlights, and even though he knew the answer was syrup (lots of it) he couldn't make himself speak.  Only Ty was ignoring him, focusing on cutting his massive stack of pancakes into perfectly equal pieces.  Kit thought that Ty was ignoring everyone in favor of whatever was being blasted through his headphones, so it made him jump when he finally spoke up.  "Syrup, Julian.  Haven't you noticed he lives on sugar?"

It was the push Kit needed to smile and accept the plate he was being offered, along with catching the bottle of syrup when Emma threw it across the table to him.  He figured that's how his stay at the Institute has been going lately- Kit faltering at every new situation, preferring to stay on the side of what was familiar, until Ty came along and gave him the shove that he needed to move forward.  If it wasn't for Ty pounding on his door at the crack of dawn (eight o'clock) he would probably still be in his room with the door locked.  He tried to look annoyed instead of grateful, but he thinks Ty understood anyways. 

Kit had never been part of a family that cared about each other as much as the Blackthorns did, but whenever he had thought about, his imagination paled to the reality. On bad days he used to lose himself in daydreams where his father was revealed to be a fraud (a crook, like everyone had said, like he had known no matter how much he pretended otherwise) and his real family came to save him. In his mind, his mom would be beautiful and willing to read him bed time stories until he fell asleep, and his father would be there to protect him and teach him so he would never have to be alone again.  There would be siblings, too- brothers to play with and sisters to tease- but he had always thought there would be two or three, not a whole houseful.  The irony isn't lost on him that he had gotten what he had wished for, even if the details were a little different than he remembered.

He never wants to run away as much as he does when he's sitting down for a family meal with the Blackthorns.  It's almost painful to watch what a family is supposed to look like and compare it to his- their warm kitchen and laughing table against the nights he was shoved in the basement as his father laughed upstairs, movie nights compared to days spent in the market, Julian's care against his father's indifference.  They all act as different parts of one body, together but separate at the same time, leaving Kit completely aware of how much of an outsider he is. 

"Do you like pancakes?"  This time it was Emma, already getting up from her chair to take his plate away.  He hadn't noticed that they had all been eating while he stared.  "I can make you eggs, if you like, but that's pretty much all I can cook." 

"No, I love pancakes, I'm just..."  He was struggling for words, trying to explain that he was just a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened and the amount of distractions in the room aren't helping. 

"Not hungry?"  This was Christina, clucking her tongue sympathetically as she began to clear the table.  His plate was whisked away from him, a full stack of pancakes still on it.  "I expect your stomach has shrunk from that time you spent locked away in your tower."

Kit tired to smile, but from the way Julian frowned, it wasn't very convincing.

 

* * *

 

 

"Ty, what are we doing?"

It was four in the morning, and Kit had just been dragged out of bed and down into the kitchen.  The only light was coming from the witchlight lamp hanging down from the ceiling, which cast a comforting glow over all of the counter tops.  "I'm making you breakfast.  Obviously."

Kit could have gathered that from the way Ty began to rummage around in the fridge, yanking out cheese and a carton of eggs.  "At four in the morning?"

"Today's another family meal day."  Ty explained, cracking the eggs one by one and dumping them in the skillet, tongue poking out form between his teeth as he did so.  "You just sat there the last time until Christina took your plate away, and you were hungry all day, so I figured we would skip that entirely.  We'll have a best friends breakfast.  Julian and Emma do it all the time."

Kit opened his mouth to point out that he didn't think that breakfast was the only reason Emma and Julian got up early, but figured it was better not to mention it.  He chose instead to watch as Ty cooked, staring at him in a way he never would have dared if he thought he was going to get caught.  He studied the movement of his hands, fingers always twitching like they wanted to reach out and grab onto something, and the way his face was screwed up in concentration.  According to Ty, the egg to cheese ratio was a very important factor in any good omelet and he was determined not to screw it up.  It wasn't until Ty reached up into the cupboard for salt and pepper, his shirt raising up to leave a strip of skin uncovered, that Kit finally tore his eyes away. 

"It's weird, being around your family."  Ty didn't answer, but Kit knew he wasn't going to.  If Ty didn't have something important to contribute to a conversation, he'll keep quiet until he does.  "You're so close to each other.  I feel like I'm intruding."

Ty put the omelet down in front of him and jumped up on top of the counter.  Kit tried to make it look like he was very interested in his food, trying not to dwell on the fact that he could feel Ty's eyes on him as he ate.  Unlike Kit, Ty never felt bad about his staring.  "You're not intruding."  Ty was talking around a mouthful of food, but Kit had no trouble understanding him.  "You're part of my family now."

"So I'm a Blackthorn?"

Ty rolled his eyes. "No, you're still a Herondale."  _I'm a Rook_ , Kit wanted to insist, but knew it would do no good.  "But one of the few perks about being all alone is that you get to choose your family.  And I choose you."

And the funny thing was, Kit chose Ty, too.

 

* * *

 

 

The next time there was a family breakfast, Kit had no trouble claiming the seat next to Ty and grabbing hold of the syrup.  When you're an honorary Blackthorn, family meals were just something you had to deal with.  And like it or not, Kit wasn't a Rook anymore.


End file.
